South Arm dock project approved by planners

CHARLEVOIX -- Charlevoix County Planning Commission members unanimously agreed to reverse their position on a proposed dock overhaul project on Lake Charlevoix's South Arm.

The planning commission met on Thursday in Charlevoix to discuss the project along M-66 in Eveline Township, among other issues. Members agreed they would support the application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after property owners Edward and Laura Demmer retooled their proposed project to address township recommendations.

"They met the concerns of the township. They are going to abide by it," said Sherman Chamberlain, surveyor at Ferguson & Chamberlain Associates, of Charlevoix.

On June 9, planning commissioners recommended the Corps deny the application as an "excessive and unnecessary consumption of water surface area" -- a more than 800-square-foot dock addition -- and the property isn't large enough for the eight watercraft spots shown in the original drawings. Now the applicant seeks space for four permanent boats without building any additional docks.

Existing docks will be updated, including a change from a fixed to floating dock design.

The previous plan also called for boulders along the shoreline in places, but the updated proposal includes a green shoreline protection strip with bio-logs and plants, documents show.

A sticking point for some is the Lake Charlevoix Management Plan. Both planning commissioners Michael Buttigieg and Bob Draves said the revised proposal still fails to comply with the plan, but conceded it did satisfy township objections.

"But it's been there forever. It's been there since before the management plan," Draves said.

The site is about a half-mile south of the Ironton Ferry crossing along the western South Arm shoreline.

If federally approved, work is expected to begin as soon as permits are issued, perhaps yet this year, Chamberlain said.

Planning commissioners also unanimously supported a proposed boardwalk construction and dredging project in Round Lake, inside Charlevoix city limits. That plan also calls for improved dock space, though near the Pine River Channel north of the drawbridge.